SATED Raiding: Invites and Expectations

There has been a recent influx of players into the guild as of late, so I'd like to take a minute or two to discuss how raid invites will be determined, and my expectations as GM.

I've always been envious of the hardcore progressive guilds that run 25's. They see the best fights, and their gear is constantly ahead of the curve--I think a lot of you are on the same page.
However, in order to get to this point, I, as GM, need to be as smart in my decisions in creating a 25 group composition as I have been with our 10.

For those of you unaware, SATED's Core 10-Players consistently perform; Ulduar to mimiron (including some hard modes), and TotC at Anub. They are geared, know their classes inside and out, and are constantly working on making themselves better. Moreover, these players, have geared themselves out of 10 man's and are ready to tackle 25's.

Progressive is a term with multiple meanings. If you look at the top 15-20 geared players in SATED, they have all worked their way from heroics, OS, all the way through Naxx-10 and 25, and into some of the hardest fights the game has seen. They have proven themselves, and paid their dues. And to that respect, it doesn't make much sense for me to try and create a 25 core group with players on different playing fields. In order to succeed, we need to even it out. As most of you saw last night, 22 players with a wide range of gear rating can roll over sarth, but in the new tier of bosses, the dps just didnt cut it.

So, with regard to raid invitations--invitations will be passed to the players that are within the gear level of the raid. This information can be found on wow-heroes, and tells me where a player is at in terms of gear. This does two things:
1. Tells me who has the stats necessary for the fights, and
2. Puts loot into the hands of someone who has worked their way to it.
Gearing for 25's has never been easier-- conquest badges can be used on ilvl 226 gear, which will take you into 25 status, and triumph badges will take you into ilvl 232, which will help make our 25's get off the ground. Heroics is a great place to start, but doesn't give the experience that we will need to successfully run 25 raids. What I would like to see, is a secondary 10 push their way through Uld, get gear, and learn the fights; that way, when we are ready to emerge as a 25, the group has a decent grasp on the core mechanics of the encounters: it's much more fun to down bosses, than it is to struggle.

This week I will schedule a secondary Uld team to get off the ground, and will support them with strategies, raid consumables, and vent support (if I'm not in-raid) to help motivate their success.
So check your calendars-- let's work on gearing ourselves, and preparing for 25 success!

And remember, if you're in need of something, seek out an officer or raider for guidance:
JC--Chris and Peach
Chants-- Hazl and Norwin
Leather--Froshok and Bokuwa
BS-- Richet and Rose

How to: Twin Val'kyr

At first glance, this seems like its a complicated fight--so I'm going to attempt to simplify it as best I can.

Premise
The fight consists of 2 Val'kyr: 1 Light, 1 Dark. Around the room, there are both light and dark portals, which can be clicked on, that will give you either a light or dark essence (buff). Damage is increased when opposite-buffed targets are attacking the Val'kyr (ie. dark players attacking light Val'kyr).

The raid is split into 2 groups: each with a tank, healer, equalized dps, and each team is assigned to a different Val'kyr. Team "A" that is assigned to Lightbane, charges themselves with the dark buff (except the healer, who charges light). The tanks pull, and dps goes to work on their assigned target. During the fight, black and white orbs float around the room--same colored orbs give a buff (that at 100 stacks= increased damage), and opposite colored orbs deal damage when touched.

Roles
DPS: damage the boss, pickup same colored orbs to stack the buff. When your Val'kyr starts casting Vortex, you must change your color to match the Val'kyrs, so that you are immune to the nova at the end of the cast. After the nova occurs, you change back to the opposing color, and resume dps.

When one of the Val'kyr starts Twins Pact, a shield is cast that must be broken by damage. If your Val'kyr has the shield, no action is needed. If the other team's has it, you'll need to quickly switch your buffs, and dps the other team's val'kyr until the shield is broken, and the cast has been interrupted. Then, change your buff back, and resume dps on your teams target.

Healers: Remember how you have a different buff from the rest of your team (but the same as your val'kyr)? This is because if your val'kyr gets the (same colored) orb, its a buff of increased damage, and if it hits your tank, its 5k damage--so run over it, it won't hurt you. You really only need to mess with the orb if its close to the tank and val'kyr, otherwise, leave em alone. Remember, your dps will be grabbing up the orbs that can damage you, so you are safe.

Tanks: Tank and Spank. You won't ever change colors. Keep your vision clear, and close watch on your raid as always. Save your cooldowns for your val'kyrs vortex to help out the healer. Its much easier when each tank calls out commands for their own team.


***For more information regarding the encounter, visit wowwiki here.***

One-Shotting the Champs (and Molesting the Twins)

Tonight, SATED stepped into the arena in pursuit of the faction champions. They weren't very cordial to us on our first visit, nearly two weeks ago--and I was expecting none the better tonight. Our very first attempt...without solace or mercy, we crushed those champs like a little kid holding a good humour bar, when a bigger kid runs over and smashes that icecream all up in the little kids face =)

Our Draw: Holy Pally, Resto Sham-wow, Mage, Hunter, Warrior, DK.

We focused on the Heals first; Holy Pally wore the skull. Had droods cyclone the shammy, hunter (sleeped the pet), and warrior, rougue sapped the mage, mage sheeped something...and we all went to town. Bloodlust right off the back, wailing away at that mofo. At about 20% had to start interrupting so he couldn't bubble, and before I knew it: dead. Our CC'ers had to switch it up cause of DR, but did an awesome job--switched right over to shammy and started taking him down. The shammy went much quicker. 2 down, all dps left...cyclones holding guys up in the air, hunters pet running around so I deathgrip it and make puppy chow out of it (cause it was annoying as F%#@), then we switch to the warrior, and he can't even get a whirlwind off before he's kissing the ground. The last 2 were a joke. Curb stomped both of em, SATED style.

Congrats to the guys Team for one-shotting the champs. It really was mind over matter on this one. And grats on defeating the Twins without incident (I really was expecting a more difficult time with them). This week we take on Anub!

Tonight's Team:
Myself, Rakshas, Whoapaw, Maeda, Norwin, Konata, Bokuwa, Artagnan, Cooplan, & Righteous

A Shyste Story: What It's Like to be GM

Rewind to December 2008.

I'm on the phone with my buddy Anthony, after having just installed WoW, and he's walking me through the character options. Moments later, a level 1 Pally and Lock go shredding through Durotar, killing all the boars in sight...

Levelling was frustrating at first. I got lost easily, and it was a real struggle when Ant wasn't there to help me out. But, things gradually came together, and as I approached 55 I became intrigued with the Death Knight. So I rolled one...and never looked back. I found SkeletonJacks site--which got me learning about game/class mechanics, addons etc. And about a month after I opened as a level 1, I dinged 80. I never really instanced much while I levelled. The guild I was in at the time, was really a waste of space. They were unhelpful, and not very friendly. It wasn't until Deathroses invited us into H&G that I really started enjoying a multi-player experience in the game. After all, it was then, that I met a lot of the people that make up SATED now.

Fast Forward to a Month ago.

Friendless in H&G (besides Di), I decide to go rogue (not re-roll, but being mischevious) and create a guild to try and get all the people I enjoyed playing with, back together. Some had moved on to Impact Players, others to Deathgrip--and I remember thinking to myself, "man, I hope this doesn't fail."It was a little slow going at first...I even had my doubts. The first week was the toughest.

Fast Forward to the Present.

SATED is in full swing; tackling the raids that once seemed impossible to get through. I still remember back to when Di and I were the only ones in the guild. As it turns out, my doubts about forming the guild couldn't have been more wrong. 10 man (and woman) progression has been the pinnacle of our success: working on TotC and the very end of Ulduar. The guild is almost ready to step into the 25's arena, and I couldn't be more excited.

There are pros and cons that come with being a GM. I don't mind the scheduling, or the research. I enjoy the fights, and watching others get geared, fighting for top dps, downing a boss for the first time. It's cool to watch players graduate from Naxx to Uld, and wax intellectual about game mechanics, class nerfs, etc. But probably the greatest satisfaction I get, is from watching how guild members interact and help eachother. If there is a lone attribute that really contributes to the strength and synergy of the guild, that's it; and it makes all the difference.

The hardest part of the game for me, is in choosing the dodgeball team. We've got a lot of good players. A lot of good, geared players--it's really unfortunate to be forced to choose who goes and who stays. I absolutely hate leaving people out--I would never want to be left out, myself. Unfortunately, its just that part of the game we're trying to wade through, and hopefully, it will pass very soon.

So until that time that SATED is rolling 25 deep into Uld, and TotC, know that I'm trying my best to work people into the rotation (puff, puff, give), and still maintain a decent group composition. I'm right there with ya, so please be patient. It really is the hardest part of the job.

A Farewell to Firesong (but not goodbye)

If you've played with us a while, you undoubtedly know Firesong and Amorgan. They arrived late on the scene in H&G, but quickly became staples in the groups progression. Their Alt Guild, "Pug Life" was created as a stepping stone to raiding--a place where they could help gear people, and eventually graduate them to SATED's level.

Last night, before having to depart the game of WoW for an unknown time, Firesong and Amorgan came home. Wish the best for them, safety for their travel, and hope of a quick return.
/Salute

In the meantime, you can keep up with Firesong by following her Blog HERE.

3.2.2 DK DPS Specs

Patch Day! Which means another day of respeccing or rotation tweaking for all of us DK's out there. Here are the most optimal DPS specs for 3.2.2:

Unholy 2H 17/0/54
Glyphs:
Ghoul
Dark Death
Icy Touch

PS- IT- SS- BS- BS- DC- HoW- DC
PS- IT- SS- BS- BS- DC- DC

*Trust me on the Icy touch here...you need the added Runic Power to fire off Deathcoils, as this will be one of the harder hitting abilites for unholy. Haste in 3.2.2 has also been found to be the next highest weighted (secondary) stat, after hit>expertise>str.


Blood 2H 51/0/20
Glyphs:
Dark Death
Dancing Rune Weapon
Death Strike

*Blood dps has pretty much remained unscathed during the patch process--still hits hard as ever, with the exception of the nerf to heartstrike's cleave, which now hits the second target for 50% damage. What is notable to watch out for, is whether or not Blizz added deathstrike into the Sigil of Virulence, which would quickly make it favorable for blood.

DW Frost is still the same as ever, though I didn't list it here, cause, frankly, obtaining the hit needed to successfully utilize it is a bit out of my reach-- and I really haven't seen anyone on the server (personally) gear it to a successful end. With BiS gear, or the right wep's with hit rating trink(s), DW is very nice. Having to gem for hit though just took away too much AP for me...


***UPDATE 09/25/2009***
I tinkered around with unholy the last few days, and I can say that I am thoroughly dissatisfied. It is consistently lower on raid boss dps (single target) than blood--Running with 2 pc/T8 and 2pc/T9 gear. That will definitely change after receiving the 4pc T9 set bonus, but until then, it is still very lackluster. Even with the nerf to ArP, blood is still able to edge it out.

BrewMaster Shyste....almost

I'm probably gonna get shot for posting this, but I think its crazy ridiculous. After 48 hours of Brewfest, I've managed to procure not only Direbrew's Remote, but also BOTH limited-edition, commemorative, Brewfest mounts: Great Brewfest Kodo, and the Swift Brewfest Ram =)
Needless to say, they guys are pretty jealous of my awesome 1/6 drop rate =p

El Ramador

El Beer Kodo

I know this was uber lucky this go 'round, so good luck to everyone still looking for em. 2 more achievements to go before I'm officially Brewmaster.

The Secrets of the Ranks

If you've been with SATED from day one, you know that I like to have fun with rank names (they were all TOPGUN call signs, I was Maverick). They've since changed, and I've had a few people ask about the ranks, and what they mean, essentially. So here they are:



1. GM rank (thats me)
2. Co-Founder (Diona)
3. Officer
4. Raider
5. Goonie
6. Ninja
7. Pirate
8. Chunk
9. Sloth


Di and I more or less share the same abilities. She's a great person, trustworthy, and a tremendous asset (even though her friggin cpu is broken atm).


Officers are persons that I consider to be intelligible advisors. They have proven themselves to be adult, fair, and supportive--they are definitely people to refer to with questions regarding classes, abilities, game mechanics, etc. And, they all have the ability to lead a well-run raid. Officers have the power to invite and /gkick, as well as full access to all bank tabs.


A Raider, by my definition, is a player that is geared to raid and has proven their ability to do so. With the exception of the gem tab, they have full access to all other functions, including editing officer and public notes, etc.


Now for the fun news: All other ranks with the exception of Sloth, are identical. I don't really see the need to change the limitations 9 different ways--but I wanted to have a fun set of ranks all the same. Pirates and Ninjas (and Goonies) is just plain cool. =)


In regard to rank design, I wanted access to go where access belonged. Gbank tabs 1 and 2 are filled with glyphs, pots, mats, etc for everyone to use, Tab 3 houses the guilds gem supply, and Tab 4 contains raiding items such as fish feasts, epics, patterns, etc. Eventually, I'd like to keep enough item enhancements there so that no one ever needs to use an AH (ie. leg armor, spell thread, etc.). Most of you know by now, that gems and enchants are yours free, so long as we have the mats, and theres usually not a problem. Hazl generally keeps enough enchanting mats for a small army, and we typically have enough blue quality gems for everyone (epics slowly building up). So don't hesitate to seek someone out if you need something =)



Free is the SATED way.

Runnin down a dream (red proto-drake)

It was probably a couple of weeks ago, after earning some random achievement, that I actually checked my "Glory of the Hero" standing.



To my delight, after a solid 9 months of running heroics and attaining over 1500 emblems, I found that I had amassed the majority of the achievements--so the hunt for the red drake has begun.

To date, I'm missing 8 total achievements. I'll keep ya posted on the progress, and hope to fraps some of the hardest achieves for you all to see.

Wish me luck!

**update**

Ruby Void/ Emerald Void

One of the simplest explanations for the fight I've found.

09/21/2009

This weekend I along with 4 other uber SATED players strolled into H Occ trying for this achievement. It's a bitch. After several attempts, our closest encounter gor Eregos down to about a one shot (17k)...and we couldn;t seal the deal. =(

This will be happening again soon.

Expectations

First off I wanna say that I am very proud to see Sated accomplish so much in just a short amount of time. Every night I am more and more amazed--we're doing something that we've never been able to get done before, and it feels reeeeally good. Last week we mowed over everything in Uld up to Mimiron... and this week I'm hoping to see Yogg.

What I really want to know, is what YOUR Expectations are.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I look at all the things in this game to be accomplished, and I'm ready to set out and get em--titles, achieves, boss killings, gnome rapings, etc.

What I'd really like to see this week:
*Yogg Saron
*Faction champs down


So what do You want out of the game? Out of the site? Any comments and ideas are greatly appreciated!

Into the Chamber...

Another night. Another raid. Another Sated first!

A One-shotting of Hodir last night has officially left SATED with merely 4 bosses left in Uld: Thorim, Mimiron, Vezax, and Yogg (not including Algalon). Gear is getting good, but teamwork is looking great! That being said, I really do see some big accomplishments coming over the next weeks; time for Vezax and Yogg to come down...

Another Night, Another Raid...

Another SATED First!!!

Live action tonight! Iron council: DEAD... Freya: DEAD

It's as if nothing will hold us back! Every night we stroll into a new chamber is a night when that boss is DOA. Epic heals, awesome dps, epic tanks (including yours truly)...we are becoming a force to be reckoned with, and it feels damn good.

Didn't really bat an eye at Iron council. Those guys saw us and keeled over. Freya, on the other hand, was a huge bitch--but after a few wipes and a bit of practice, she went down like Alanis Morisette in a theatre =)

Sated: Ignis Guild First!!!

Last night Sated ventured into Ulduar, after picking up more of its core players, and the results couldn't have been better! 6 Bosses downed in less than 2 hours...No wipes, and 6 deaths total.

And, the best part about it all: Sated one-shot Ignis!

That fire-crotch bastard has given us hell when we attempted him--but last night, we RickRolled him easier than the police bustin' up a highschool kegger. It was a beautiful sight. Sated is here.

See this Douchebag Behind Me???

PWND!!!!

Jaraxxus was one of the most rewarding kills I've had in a while--and I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to a few more this week. Sated's core group is coming together, and I foresee some great things ahead...